Archive for February 2009

One of the hot rumours at the minute is that UK developer Climax is thought to be working on a PSP and Wii remake of the original Silent Hill.

Originally released in 1999, the original Silent Hill game is widely recognised (along with it’s immediate sequel) as a high point for the series, providing a creeping, foreboding survival horror experience that was very much the opposite to the action orientated Resident Evil titles at the time.

Whilst no confirmation has been given by publisher Konami or developer Climax, it seems a likely scenario as Climax recently advertised the fact that they were making a PSP & Wii title for Konami, and also because of their development history; Climax developed the PSP & PS2 Silent Hill Origins title which came out in 2007.

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Continuing with the resurgence of software for Sony’s neglected handheld comes news that Little Big Planet has been confirmed for a late 2009 release. Much like it’s PS3 counterpart, LBP PSP will allow gamers to create their own levels and content, sharing them wirelessly or over the internet via infrastructure mode.

Meanwhile, Harmonix and EA have confirmed that a portable version of their popular Rock Band franchise is in the offing this year. The portable version, titled Rock Band Unplugged, promises a similar type of DLC too, with PSP users able to download new songs and tracks through an in-game store. A first it seems, for both Europe and America.

I must admit, I love the PSP platform, and this is the right thing to do; getting out big name first party exclusives and third party titles that leverage the unique strengths of the console.

Let’s hope Sony keep it up and don’t let it fall by the wayside as has been this case previously.

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Reinforcing the idea that people still make games for the PSP these days, Ubisoft have confirmed to Eurogamer.com, that a portable version of 2007’s stealth assassination title Assassin’s Creed, is in the works. No release date or details have been given, but expect to hear something soon, by E3 at the latest.

Speaking of games for the PSP, Sony have released the first details and trailer of the Motorstorm title confirmed for the handheld platform (and now the PS2) some four months ago.

Titled Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, the game seemingly attempts to recreate the visceral racing experience of it’s PS3 counterpart and also the big racing festival atmosphere so prevalent in the PS3 titles. MotorStorm Arctic Edge is set in butt-numbing locale of Alaska, forcing the player to once again avoid the wrath of Mother Nature as players have to deal with crumbling ice floors, avalanches, different racing altitudes and much more besides.

In addition to this, players are able to unlock snow specific vehicles that will make carving a path through the white stuff a much easier task. Players will also be able to customise any vehicle as well; changing everything from the wheels to the exhaust.

And the icing on the proverbial cake of course is the inclusion of an Ad Hoc mode for wireless races between up to eight players on the PSP system, and also, Infrastructure Mode for online play.

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Announced back at Quakecon 2007, all news on Quake III Arena for XBLA has been non-existent since then. But now we have at least have one new tidbit regarding the multiplayer fragfest with development lead John Caramack piping up to gaming site joystiq and saying that “we’re actually very close to finishing up,”.

Aside from this no other details or a solid release date have been divulged, but it’s good to know that the project isn’t dead in the water.

In other XBLA news, Sega have announced that one-on-one mech combat classic Virtual On, is due to hit XBLA sometime in the near future at a price point of 1200MSP.

The XBLA title is in fact a conversion of the Dreamcast version of Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram, which is consider by many fans as the best in the twin-stick, mech mashing series of games.

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As promised earlier, Capcom have unveiled the identity of the mystery game via XBOX Live that was to be announced today as none other than Lost Planet 2.

Revealed through the nearly nine minute trailer, is gameplay footage as well as an interview with director Kenji Oguro. In regards to the setting, Lost Planet 2 will retain the planet from the first game but events takes place some 15 years after the events of the original title. As a result of this much of the snow that was prevalent in the first game has now melted giving way to tropical jungles and lush rainforests.

Indeed one high point of the trailer actually shows the characters swiftly travelling to an encounter in the jungle via a boat which is taken down a river.

These characters also form the basis of the sequel’s storytelling; as opposed to just unfolding the story from the perspective of a single character, players now get to see the story affect a group of what Oguro termed ‘Snow Pirates’.

From what was seen, the gameplay appears to stick closely to that of the original; retaining the third person perspective and the bug destroying action (the massive Akrid that appears at the end of the trailer is proof of this). But one thing that was mooted for this sequel is supposedly co-op, something that makes a lot of sense giving the group storytelling mechanic and also the seemingly mandatory addition of co-op to any action game that gets released these days.

Visually the title looks superb, much of it being attributed to the newest version of Capcom’s multiplatfrom Framework engine. The exhaustively named development tool allows optimisation of code across a number of platforms without the need to work individually on each version’s code, thus elimination the need to create manual optimisations which would increase overall development time.

This also means that the title should hit all three formats – 360, PC and PS3; although Capcom have yet to formally announce the PS3 version at this point.

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The teaser trailer for the sequel to Bioware’s 2007 Sci-Fi RPG hit Mass Effect, is now available for viewing by all and sundry.

The trailer is pre-rendered and basically shows very little except for a list of crewmates that accompanied Commander Shepherd through the first game, then his/hwer name appears with the status: Killed In Action next to it. After this happens a Geth appears out of nowhere and the trailer ends with the Mass Effect 2 logo fading to black.

Yeah, not exactly rocking the exposition meter or anything, but it’s still nice to have at least something.

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EA and the intrestingly named developer Spicy Horse, have announced that an all-new title based on the original Alice titled released back in 2000, is in the works for PC, PS3 and 360.

Here is the official press release below:

EA AND SPICY HORSE RETURN TO WONDERLAND FOR ALL-NEW ALICE TITLE

American McGee and EA Reunite For the Next Chapter in EA’s Classic Alice Franchise

Redwood City, Calif. – February 19, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Spicy Horse today announced that they have signed a publishing deal for an all-new title based on EA’s 2000 classic, American McGee’s Alice™. The game reunites EA with American McGee, the creative visionary behind the original game. The new title is in development for the PC, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game console.

“This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who’ve kept the Alice flame alive,” said American McGee, senior creative director at Spicy Horse. “EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting.”

“EA Partners is thrilled to team up with American McGee and Spicy Horse on the next installment of the Alice franchise,” said David DeMartini, senior vice president and general manager of EA Partners. “American McGee’s interpretation of Alice was an instant classic, and EA Partners is ready to help him bring his innovative vision for the franchise to even darker, more exciting places.”

The original game was noted for it’s twisted, immenesely dark take on Lewis Carroll’s fable with the game’s setting taking players into a considerably more macabre rendition of Wonderland that is brought into being from Alice’s mind. Alice of course being insane due to the death of her parents in a house fire, which in turn led to numerous failed suicide attempts.

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After the original launched in 2004, and saw a ‘lite’ revision in 2005, the third iteration of the Nintendo DS hardware now has a date and price for Europe.

The Nintendo DSi will hit European retail on April 3rd, retailing at £149 (169 EUR).

The new DSi model chucks in two cameras while slimming the machine down ever so slightly. As well as this, the DSi adds both an SD card slot and 256MB of memory, affording the machine a lot more in the way of multimedia functionality.

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After a Wii iteration of EA’s new sci-fi horror-fest was announced earlier this month, the first details and teaser trailer of the title have now come to light. Jointly developed by EA and Eurocom, the title acts as a prequel, leading players through the turn of events leading up to the USG Ishimura mission that took place in the 360/PS3 2008 title.

Rather than being a port of the 360/PS3 version, the Wii iteration is instead an on-rail’s shooter; sharing many similarities with the likes of House Of The Dead or perhaps more fittingly, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. While the lack of free-roaming exploration will inevitably push the game in a more linear direction, perhaps turning off a few fans in the process, Dead Space Extraction still has a lot in common with the first Dead Space title including the strategic dismemberment system, weapon upgrades, stasis, telekinesis, alternate-fire modes and more besides.

If anything EA and Eurocom seem keen to stack the feature set with Extraction, promising a co-op mode and an all-new Heroine, the Arc Welder tool, and an all-new Flying enemy in addition to other yet-to-be-revealed surprises.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the game is pushing out some of the best visuals on Wii?

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L Mitchell Design – Grey Goblin Studios
A hive of artistic creativity bourne out of a tremendously talented and imaginative mind, Grey Goblin Studios is a showcase of visual splendor from the deepest reaches of the human psyche. The site is actually run by one of my best friends; a superb chap

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